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row
(redirected from a hard row to hoe)

   Also found in: Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia 0.01 sec.
row 1  (r)
n.
1. A series of objects placed next to each other, usually in a straight line.
2. A succession without a break or gap in time: won the title for three years in a row.
3. A line of adjacent seats, as in a theater, auditorium, or classroom.
4. A continuous line of buildings along a street.
tr.v. rowed, row·ing, rows
To place in a row.
Idiom:
a tough row to hoe Informal
A difficult situation to endure.

[Middle English, from Old English rw.]

row 2  (r)
v. rowed, row·ing, rows
v.intr. Nautical
To propel a boat with or as if with oars.
v.tr.
1. Nautical
a. To propel (a boat) with or as if with oars.
b. To carry in or on a boat propelled by oars.
c. To use (a specified number of oars or people deploying them).
2. To propel or convey in a manner resembling rowing of a boat.
3. Sports
a. To pull (an oar) as part of a racing crew.
b. To race against by rowing.
n. Nautical
1.
a. The act or an instance of rowing.
b. A shift at the oars of a boat.
2. A trip or an excursion in a rowboat.

[Middle English rowen, from Old English rwan; see er- in Indo-European roots.]

rower n.

row 3  (rou)
n.
1. A boisterous disturbance or quarrel; a brawl. See Synonyms at brawl.
2. An uproar; a great noise.
intr.v. rowed, row·ing, rows
To take part in a quarrel, brawl, or uproar.

[Origin unknown.]

row1
n
1. an arrangement of persons or things in a line a row of chairs
2. (Social Science / Human Geography)
a.  Chiefly Brit a street, esp a narrow one lined with identical houses
b.  (capital when part of a street name) Church Row
3. a line of seats, as in a cinema, theatre, etc.
4. (Mathematics) Maths a horizontal linear arrangement of numbers, quantities, or terms, esp in a determinant or matrix
5. (Group Games / Chess & Draughts) a horizontal rank of squares on a chessboard or draughtboard
in a row in succession; one after the other he won two gold medals in a row
a hard row to hoe a difficult task or assignment
[Old English rāw, rǣw; related to Old High German rīga line, Lithuanian raiwe strip]

row2
vb
1. (Team Sports / Rowing) to propel (a boat) by using oars
2. (Team Sports / Rowing) (tr) to carry (people, goods, etc.) in a rowing boat
3. (Team Sports / Rowing) to be propelled by means of (oars or oarsmen)
4. (Team Sports / Rowing) (intr) to take part in the racing of rowing boats as a sport, esp in eights, in which each member of the crew pulls one oar Compare scull [6]
5. (Team Sports / Rowing) (tr) to race against in a boat propelled by oars Oxford row Cambridge every year
n
1. (Team Sports / Rowing) an act, instance, period, or distance of rowing
2. (Team Sports / Rowing) an excursion in a rowing boat See also row over
[Old English rōwan; related to Middle Dutch roien, Middle High German rüejen, Old Norse rōa, Latin rēmus oar]
rower  n
rowing  n

row3
n
1. a noisy quarrel or dispute
2. a noisy disturbance; commotion we couldn't hear the music for the row next door
3. a reprimand
give (someone) a row Informal to scold (someone); tell off
vb
1. (intr; often foll by with) to quarrel noisily
2. (tr) Archaic to reprimand
[origin unknown]

Row a number of things or persons set out in a circle, in a string or series, or in a line—Wilkes.
Examples: row of answers, 1674; of beans; of grain, 1707; of houses, 1450; of onions, 1880; of piles, 1229; of pillars, 1610; of pineapples, 1779; of stakes, 1719; of theatre seats, 1710; of teeth, 1887; of words, 1510; of writers, 1576.

row


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7, 1995--Since the invention of the wheel, inventors have always had a hard row to hoe.
 
 
 
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